TOM VS. FROM SEASON 4 EPISODE 2: FRAY

FRAY, the second episode of MGM+’s FROM season 4 finally has some communication between the town’s residents, but is it too late, as we are reminded that KNOWLEDGE COMES AT A COST?

A gruesome discovery sends shockwaves through the town as Jade and Tabitha struggle with the weight of their revelation.

Director: Jack Bender

Writers: John Griffin & Jeff Pinkner

Stars Harold Perrineau, Catalina Sandino Moreno, David Alpay, et al.

Episode two, called FRAY—a clear reference to what happens to a rope before it breaks or a swatch of cloth before it falls apart—focuses on the fall out of what happened in not only episode 1, but the finale of season 3. They, the town’s residents, finally start sharing information with each other regarding the bottle tree, music, Fatima’s baby, and Elgin’s torture. They’re blissfully unaware of the mole in their midsts.

We can’t talk about this without getting into spoilers, so you’ll need to keep this in mind going forward with my coverage of this series. I will try to be as spoiler-free as possible, but some plot details are going to be exposed. You’ve been warned, because as this episode tells us, knowledge comes at a price.

There are many parallels between FROM and LOST, and much of this is the characters themselves, some of them have a purpose outside of the main narrative. THese characters are representations of the viewers. In LOST this was mainly Hurley. His scenes explained things to the viewer, the weird things, in manners they can understand. His character was also the one who was most normal. It’s no surprise he went on to become the island’s caretaker. In FROM, our “Hurley” is two characters, Officer Agosta and Sara.

Officer Agosta, represents frustrated new viewers, and her introduction in the third season opener is intentional. She doesn’t trust or like Boyd or Donna, and she just wants to get out of the town by any means necessary. So in this episode she steals the ambulance and discovers the hard way she’s basically stuck in a Pac-Man console going through those game-side portals, as all road lead back to the center of town.

Sara, who is the town’s outcast, represents the viewers who think they know what’s going on. Her connection to the entity in season one gives her a little more insight into what is going on, no different than the fan who has studied every single frame of the series. And it’s obvious, at least to me, that she knows something is up with Sophia, as body language goes a long way and Sara has learned to keep her mouth shut.

Ah, Sophia/the Man in Yellow, you naughty little shapeshifting asshole. It’s pretty obvious Tillie in season 2 and 3 was the Man in Yellow as well. This character gives the residents so many opportunities to out her, but they just buy into her projected naivete. She’s charming Kenny and I’m pretty certain he’s going to end up trying to bang her which will lead to his demise. But there’s more. For example: Only Catholics make the sign of the cross… and Catholic priests are celibate, so why does Sophia call the priest her father and make the sign of the cross? Or is this a media property simplifying things like they always tend to do when it comes to religion?

Why does the license plate on the priest’s car spell out ELOISE? Which is Victor’s lost sister’s name? 

Ethan always wears yellow in some capacity, you ever notice that? (But so does Boyd, Donna, and everyone else at some point…). 

Some of these may be tells to what it really going on, some may be red herrings, no different than a magician’s sleight of hand tricks. I’m almost certain the yellow clothing items are red herrings, but that license plate is too blatant NOT to be something.

Other solid plot points of note:

Jim’s body is delivered to the town’s residents, with a message informing them KNOWLEDGE COMES AT A COST in big bold letters. This leads to Ethan running away, though we’re not sure where he’s going as we know all roads lead to FROMville. He ultimately ends up at the family’s RV and talks to his father’s ghost (a common trope on the show), who tells him he has to be strong for his mother and sister before disappearing. 

Boyd lays down the law with Elgin and how he is to present his incident to the others, anything else will land him the BOX. We haven’t seen the BOX used since season 1, and for good reason.

Victor is losing his shit cos he is recognizing all the tells of what is to come, and lets his father know. The old man is empathetic to his son, and gives him the best advice he can.

Perhaps the most important storyline is Julie and her storywalking ability, which is the true measure of what’s going on. Julie brings Randall to the ruins and story walks, bringing her back to their first night in the RV when Boyd and Donna rescue them. A revisit to that episode will shock you and reinforce this show has had a plan all along. I predict that in a forthcoming episode Juile will cut her hair to match the length it was during the season 3 finale when she tries to warn her father about the Man in Yellow.

FROM Season 4 Episode 2, Fray, is a solid entry into the series, and is appropriately named, as the residents start to fray from the stress. So tell me, are my theories solid? What do you think? And what is in store for us with episode 3, Merrily We Go?

PLEASE NOTE: The views and opinions of the staff of Memento Mori Ink do not necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or Crystal Lake Publishing. Thank you for understanding.